Sid Hartman: Wilf stands strong behind Childress

Though the Vikings have posted a dismal 6-9 record, and are out of the playoffs, owner Zygi Wilf has complete confidence in coach Brad Childress and is confident that the first-year coach will make the Vikings a winner.

In my conversations with Wilf, he has made it clear that he doesn't have to give Childress a vote of confidence because he understands after being an owner for a year that it takes time to build Super Bowl teams. And he is just as confident now that Childress can do the job as he was when he hired the former Eagles assistant.

"We have done a good job in building for the future," Wilf said. "Winning is most important to me, and we will find a way to win."

While Wilf refuses to personally criticize previous owner Red McCombs, he doesn't believe that previous coaches were given a real chance to win.

Wilf doesn't bring up specifics, but he has shown by his actions -- spending money on players and remodeling the Vikings' office and practice complex to make it one of the better ones in the league -- what he thought needed to be done to make the team a first-class operation.

No doubt Wilf expected better results after spending that money on free agents. And after the team won seven of the last nine games last season, there was reason to believe the team could do well. But Wilf said it's apparent that the new coaching staff needed time to get acclimated.

"I can see now why it takes time and it is difficult for a first-year coach to start out winning," Wilf said.

Tough in first year

The Vikings had employed six coaches before Childress, and only Jerry Burns at 9-7 in 1986 and Dennis Green at 11-5 in 1992 had winning first seasons.

I think Childress overrated the talent not only on his own but on the advice of the personnel people with the Vikings. Free agents such as linebacker Ben Leber, offensive guard Steve Hutchinson, running back Chester Taylor and safety Dwight Smith, among others, were expected to fill holes and make the Vikings a winner. But Childress and those involved in the personnel department learned there are other holes to fill.

The 2005 draft of first-rounders Troy Williamson and Erasmus James, second-rounder Marcus Johnson and third-rounder Dustin Fox didn't contribute because of injuries and inability. The 2006 draft wasn't much help because of the injury to first-rounder Chad Greenway and because two of the three second-round picks -- offensive tackle Ryan Cook and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson -- didn't get involved until late. Only second-rounder Cedric Griffin made a contribution.

It is my opinion that there has been much unjust criticism of the play-calling of Childress. You talk to some of the most successful coaches in the business, and they will tell you that the system is not as important as having good players who have good athletic ability and can execute any system.

I can't remember any first-year coach here in any sport getting ripped liked Childress has.

My thought is this: Give the guy a chance to get his feet on the ground and improve the personnel, and then if he doesn't win in 2007, then it might be fair to question how good a coach he is.

From a media standpoint, I believe I have had a closer relationship with Childress than anybody else. I'm convinced that, given the help and the spending of ownership and what he has learned in his first season, Childress will be an outstanding coach in the NFL.

Knight credits others

Bob Knight won his 879th game Saturday to tie Dean Smith for the most victories of any men's college basketball coach in history. The Texas Tech coach is a cinch to break the record by winning one of his next three games.

Knight refuses to take any credit and goes back to his days as the West Point coach to give players and coaches who worked and played for him credit for the start of his great run.

"Well, what else is there? When a coach is recognized for something, I think that's exactly what it is," Knight said. "I think the people that can really take great pleasure in it are the players that won the games and all the people, the assistant coaches, that helped prepare for the games."

He and Smith have been good friends for more than 30 years, "going back to when he hadn't been at North Carolina very long and I was coaching at West Point," Knight said.

"I think that we each have had kind of a way of playing that we stuck to over the years, and different ways of playing," he said. "In both cases, I think we've both made it work pretty well."

On another subject, Knight has seen most of the football games played by Texas Tech this season. Texas Tech is the Gophers' opponent Friday in the Insight Bowl.

Knight said the Gophers should prepare for one of the best passing attacks in college football.

"They're going to see a team that passes the ball as well as, or maybe better than, any team in college football," Knight said. "And Mike Leach does a great job with the passing game.

"We've got good receivers, a quarterback that can really throw the ball. As I've watched football over the years, I think he [Leach] is about as good of an offensive mind as I've ever seen. The way that they move the ball I think will be a surprising thing for everybody concerned."

Big three must produce

With the Gophers having only one more nonconference basketball game before opening the Big Ten season, interim coach Jim Molinari said that three players -- Spencer Tollackson, Dan Coleman and Lawrence McKenzie --are going to be keys to any success the team has.

"Tollackson, Coleman and McKenzie have to understand that in any type of scouting situation, if a team is going to play the University of Minnesota, those three players are going to have a big X on their back," Molinari said. "And we have to make sure that they get more opportunities, but they have to understand that they have to prepare.

"If Randy Moss is going to play the other team, you know the other team is going to say, 'We're going to take Randy Moss out.' Or, 'We're going to take Kevin Garnett out.' Well, you have to be that much tougher, that much better and work that much harder. And they haven't been in those roles. Now they are in those roles, and I think that's one thing I'm going to talk to all three of them about on a daily basis. Because I think that is one thing that has to happen. They've had very good seasons, all three of them, but now they have to kick it up to the next level."

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com